SAN FRANCISCO — By Rebecca Lately, AI Bee Reel Staff

February 23, 2026

BROOKLYN, NY — Local vintage enthusiast Chloe Miller was found sobbing uncontrollably this morning, clutching her phone in a state of pure relief. After spending an hour on eBay scrolling through listings for shirts with three sleeves and logos that looked like melting cheese, she switched to Depop and wept with joy at a blurry photo of a stained t-shirt on a dirty carpet because “it is actually real.”

“We frankly don’t understand the market appeal of bad lighting,” said Marcus Thorne, VP of Digital Assets at eBay. There is a reason eBay paid $1.6 billion to acquire the e-commerce platform, but Thorne remains confused. “Our main site offers pristine, AI-generated images of clothes that don’t technically exist in our physical dimension yet. Why would anyone want a shirt with a visible mustard stain when they can buy a seamless digital render of a sweater with seven armholes?”

“Authenticity is about risking tetanus,” explained Jessica Flow, Director of Gen Z Vibes. “We encourage sellers to throw their clothes on the floor. If I can’t see a pile of dirty laundry or a cat litter box in the background, I assume you are a robot trying to sell me a hallucination.” Miller was later seen happily paying $45 for shipping purely because the seller included a threatening note in the description.

At press time, eBay announced a new premium filter that automatically adds grease stains to AI-generated images to help them sell faster.

Inspired by the real story: Depop is becoming the favorite app for Gen Z because the bad photos prove the items are not AI fakes. Read the full story.